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Just hours before a deadly shooting at a south Florida high school in which 17 people were killed, Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill at the Statehouse that would ensure schools have a plan to respond to security incidents.

Lawmakers told KCCI they were surprised to learn that not all Iowa school districts have a plan to respond to an active-shooter incident.

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“It takes resources; it takes commitment,” said former Des Moines police Capt. Kelly Willis, who now works as a security consultant at KJW Diversified Services.

He helped develop the Des Moines Police Department’s response to school shootings as massacres and gunfire become more common.

“If you go to school on a routine basis, be it a teacher or student, you have a 1-in-53,000 chance of an active-shooter killing you,” Willis said. “In the United States today, you have a 1-in-60,000 chance of being killed in a tornado.”

Willis said it’s more than just having a plan – it’s putting it into practice.

“It’s not merely having a plan in a folder somewhere; it’s changing a mindset,” Willis said.

Lt. Anthony Giampolo with the West Des Moines Police Department said several agencies from around the area helped with training a school in Waukee for nine days in January.

Schools and police departments in the Des Moines area have spent the past few years trying to do that, but in some parts of rural area, some school districts don’t have a plan, said state Sen. Jim Carlin, a Republican from Sioux City.

In those areas, help may be a long ways away, said Carlin, who is sponsoring a bill that would require all school districts in the state to have a building security plan in place.

“We’re not going to mandate that they have a specific plan, just that they have a plan,” Carlin said.

The bill is receiving bipartisan support. “Both Republicans and Democrats believe in public safety and want the best for our children,” said state Sen. Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa.

The bill passed subcommittee Wednesday morning, but its timing coinciding with the deadly Parkland, Florida, shooting isn’t lost on Iowa’s legislators.

“Today’s a pretty good reason,” Carlin said.

Bowman put forth an amendment to ensure the details of those security plans wouldn’t be available publicly. Senate File 2253 will move onto the full education committee.